Now that his bloodline had evolved, Emery felt his body was slightly lighter, his every movement brimmed with energy. Then, he checked the status of his bloodline.
[Bloodline genes - Fey Wolf]]
[Gene Classification - Legendary bloodline]
[Bloodline Limit: Rank 6]
[Current rank]
[Rank 4 - Fey Shaman]
[Fey wolf gene essence - 30%]
He finally managed to reach the fourth rank out of the available 6 ranks within the wolf bloodline.
But, even though the achievement made him feel like celebrating, he felt a little weird when he saw two wolf figures in his vision this time. Considering the story given to him by the High Priestess, it appeared the first wolf was the figure of the fey wolf, while the second wolf was the original wolf that came from the old Asgardian tale involving the Fenrir wolf. That should be it.
Fortunately, even after he wasted a little bit during his attempts at making the perfect gene booster potion, he still had about half of the [Corrupted Lycanthrope] liquid. He could bring them later as a sample to the Magus Academy, in the hope to verify the real story behind it.
Right now, he had spent the whole day experimenting with potions and upgrading his bloodline, which meant he only had three days left until the battle started.
On one hand, he did feel much stronger than before, but, on the other hand, his body felt restless. The boost of strength brought forth an urge within him, the urge to unleash his true self and transform to go wild at the nearest things. But right now, his spirit reading had picked up the presence of a group of people coming into the village.
Emery used his [Spatial Gate] to check the village entrance, only to find dozens of people in uniforms led by Luna Quintin.
"Luna!" Emery called out.
The beautiful lady looked at him and smiled. "So, it is true. I heard that you have returned."
Emery stared at her in confusion, surprised how she found out about it so soon.
Seeing his expression, Luna quickly clarified. "It's nothing magical, really. I just got a bird message from Gwen in the capital."
She gave him a cheeky smile, approached him and whispered, letting her warm breath fan his ear. "I really thought you would stop the wedding from happening. Heh, I guess I have one less competitor now," she chuckled.
Emery gave her a flat stare, unwilling to entertain her in this particular topic. "So, Luna, why are you here…?"
"Haha, well isn't it obvious? Chief Brennus contacted Cavvi knowing the things that just unfolded in the capital, of course I will join."
"The chief? what for…?"
"Silly you, of course to join the battle!"
Right after she said that, from the village, Chief Brennus and Cavvi emerged. Behind them, dozens of Akavi warriors had lined up, each fully equipped for battle. Chief Brennus approached them and said. "High Priestess already gave us the message, we are to support you on the upcoming battle, Emery."
"!!"
Emery looked around and did a quick count of the dozens of Akavi Warriors and Quintins' guard gathered there. In total, there were about 200 fighters. 50 from the Quintins' elite guard, the rest were Akavi Warriors. About half of the warriors have had experience working with the Quintins before.
"The priestess believed it was the will of Gaia for us to participate."
Emery decides to drop by to the shrine to ask what Gaia planned for them.
Right as Emery reached the Gaia tree, the High Priestess materialized from the nearby water. As if she knew his questions already, she said that for a while Gaia had been unclear with her messages, but the priestess knew that they would need to come and join for this Battle. She had a feeling the battle was going to be very important for the fey people.
Those words only made Emery even more concerned. He remembered the vision about the destruction shown by Gaia before.
Once more, the Priestess expressed her regret for being unable to leave the shrine. The presence of her sister, Maeve, only troubled her, but as much as she wanted to help, she had no choice but to leave that problem in Emery's care.
The High priestess told Emery one thing he could do just in case he landed into trouble, Emery naturally accepted any help he could get.
"I hope you all will return safely."
In order to reach Camelot, the group would have to march for three days. As he returned, he saw the Akavi Warriors had mostly scattered into the village, presumably to prepare for the long journey. Luna was going to be their guide to reach Camelot.
Half of them had never even left the Fey village before, as it was clear from their expression of worry and excitement. It was especially evident from the four fey girls: Glita, Tyra, Lilith and Lelith. Their behavior suggested they were not about to go to battle, but to go outside and sightsee around the village.
"Let's go!" Glita said gleefully to her sisters.
Before it could get out of hand, Emery decided to stop her. "No, Glita, you are not going!"
Her expression immediately turned sour and she cried out. "What?! No, I… I must! The chief said…! No, this is not fair!"
"… Actually, Glita, all of you sisters will not go with them. You all will stay with me, I have something we need to do first."
Emery cast [Spatial Storage] and took out the skin-like parchment known as the [Blood Moon Ritual].
That parchment was the scroll given to him as a gift by the patriarch of the wolf bloodline. It was something that could help him when he reached rank 4. Emery thought about using it after the battle, but knowing the 4 fey sisters would join, he decided to do it beforehand.
The scroll contained a series of instructions and chants he had to follow in order to become an alpha wolf of the pack. Basically, all he needed to have was just at least more than one wolf willing to become part of his pack.
"So, are you girls willing to do it? I am sure it will help us all."
It was Tyra, the oldest sister, who answered him. "Of course, Emery, we will follow you. We have already considered you as our leader for quite a while now."
The other girls followed suit and expressed their approval, while Glita, cheerful as ever, said. "The moment you said the word 'ritual', I agreed already, brother. I am sure it will be fun."
Emery was a bit hesitant, but he told them about what the ritual required. However, the girls still agreed.
Everything needed to be done late at night when the moon was up. Time passed quickly, the silvery rays of the moon illuminated the hill, all four girls stood in front of him.
Under the light, they all undressed themselves.
All four beautiful girls stood and showed their skin, while Emery bit his arm until blood started dripping. He used his other arm and his palm to touch the girls' shoulders one by one.
They had memorized the chanting beforehand, and now, all of them recited it as carefully as they could. Under the moonlight as the chants went on, they slowly transformed.
Fur started growing on their skin, while claws and fangs emerged from them. Emery was the first to finish their transformation. A massive build-up of energy was within. He continued chanting, before releasing it all out with a loud howl.
Hoooowwwwllll!
The girls followed suit.
It felt like the energies were being sent and distributed towards the girls, while the girls would send it back, creating a back-and-forth link. As the process went on, Emery felt the beginnings of a newfound power surging within.
[Bloodmoon ritual is successful]
[You are now the alpha of your pack]
[You learn a new innate skill - One Mind]
[You learn a new innate skill - Battle Howl]
[The stronger the pact, the stronger the Alpha]
[Battle Power increased by 6 points]
[Your stamina and regenerative abilities have improved]
After the long howl subsided, the girls all returned to their normal forms along with Emery. He could feel that their power had increased. To his surprise, he noticed the mark he drew using his blood on their shoulders was still present, although a bit faded.
Glita eyed the mark on her shoulder with amusement and said.
"Does this mean all of us have become brother Emery's wives?!"
"!!"
"No, no, not that!" Emery said, almost choking. If she said it while the ritual went on, he was sure he would have had a heart attack. Glita certainly had a distorted idea about marriage, but fortunately, Tyra was more than happy to explain that it was not.
Although she accepted Tyra's explanation, Glita seemed a bit disappointed.
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Written by Avans, Published exclusively by W.e.b.n.o.v..e.l,